HRC’s Flint water challenge donation should not have used public money

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016 — The vote last Wednesday, Feb. 3, by the Bardstown-Nelson County Commission on Human Rights to donate to the local Flint Water Challenge was a admirable idea — but one that should have used private donations instead of the commission’s funding.

Bardstown City Councilwoman Kecia Copeland addressed the Human Rights Commission (HRC) at the end of its Feb. 3 meeting and asked for the group’s support in helping Flint, Michigan residents have safe drinking water.

There’s no denying that we need to encourage more of the sort of grassroots leadership that launched the local Flint Water Challenge: There was a need identified and individuals stepped forward to take action to help those in need. The outpouring of support from the community has been tremendous.

While the HRC’s decision to donate to the water challenge is an admirable show of solidarity, its decision to donate $250 of its “surplus” funding was — in my opinion — the wrong decision.

The HRC is funded by public funds provided by the City of Bardstown and Nelson Fiscal Court. Using the money the HRC is given to handle local human rights issues on an out-of-state donation is — in my mind — a misuse of those, no matter how great the need or how honorable the cause.

Michael Johnson was the lone commissioner at the meeting who questioned if the group should really use its funding for the donation.

To his credit, Johnson asked the HRC to delay making a donation and seek a determination on the appropriateness of using its funding for a donation — a request that apparently fell on deaf ears.

“Our commission is focused on the City of Bardstown and the County of Nelson, and that’s my concern about doing something as a commission,” he said. “On a personal level I’m all for helping out.”

HRC member Paula Pace asked if the group needed the city and county government to tell it how to use its money. The answer to that question in my book is: “It depends.”

If the funds are being used to help accomplish the HRC’s main functions, the answer is “No” — there’s no need to seek permission from the city or county. Expenditures along these lines are in keeping with the HRC’s purpose.

The ordinance that created the HRC states simply that: “The Commission shall encourage fair treatment and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or age (between 40 and 70) and shall promote mutual understanding and respect among all economic, social, racial, religious, sex, age, and ethnic groups; and shall endeavor to eliminate discrimination against, and antagonism between religious, racial, sex, age, and ethnic groups and their members.”

From my reading of the HRC ordinance, using the commission’s funding to make donations to locations outside the state fall outside its mission.

The first dollar figure mentioned Wednesday for the Flint Water Challenge donation was $1,000. After hearing Johnson’s concerns about the donation, commission member Mike Yaden proposed a $250 donation. He suggested that if a problem arises regarding the HRC donation, its 10 members could chip in $25 individually to cover it.

I don’t have a problem with helping Flint, Michigan during their drinking water crisis. But I do have a problem with the donation of taxpayer money for an out-of-state need by a board whose focus I believe falls within the boundaries of Nelson County.

Councilwoman Copeland and several HRC members stated at the meeting that access to water is a human right. Perhaps. Maybe I’m way off-base, but I believe a local commission with a local focus and dependent on local tax dollars to fund its operation should consider more carefully plans to spend its money when those expenses fall outside our area.

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